Pro-Israel rally to take place in Paris ahead of France-Israel match

The rally of the association "Israel is Forever" will be held on Wednesday, November 13, the day before the tense match between France and Israel at the Stade de France, Laurent Nuñez, the head of Paris Police, announced this Sunday on BFMTV.

"I will not ban this demonstration [...] I have no reason to do so," maintained the Paris police prefect, adding that "this gala brings together barely a few hundred people and is held every year."

The holding of this demonstration has been strongly criticized by French unions and left-wing parties, such as La France Insoumise. Mainly because of the invitation of the far-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who had "made extremely shocking remarks, condemned by France," recalled Laurent Nuñez. Smotrich will not be present in the procession.

The context surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Europe was also one of the reasons put forward by the left to call for the cancellation of the event. The rally will come six days after the pogrom against Israeli football fans in Amsterdam.

* Le Figaro contributed to this article.